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Malone Dies

Malone Dies is the first person monologue of Malone, an old man lying in bed and waiting to die. The tone is fiercely ironic, highly quotable, and because of its extravagance, also very comic. It catches the reality of old age in a way that is grimly convincing, cruel as humor so often is, and memorable because of Beckett's way with words. A master dramatist, Beckett's novels can be even more effective when heard, and especially when read by such a Beckett specialist as Sean Barrett.

Molloy

Written initially in French, later translated by the author into English,
Molloy is the first book in Dublin-born Samuel Beckett's trilogy. It was published shortly after WWII and marked a new, mature writing style, which was to dominate the remainder of his working life.
Molloy is less a novel than a set of two monologues narrated by Molloy and his pursuer, Moran.

Watt

Watt tells the tale of Mr Knott's servant and his attempts to get to know his master. Watt's mistake is to derive the essence of his master from the accidentals of his being, and his painstakingly logical attempts to 'know' ultimately consign him to the asylum. Itself a critique of error, Watt has previously appeared in editions that are littered with mistakes, both major and minor.

Murphy

'The sun shone, having no alternative, on the nothing new.' So opens
Murphy, Samuel Beckett's first novel, published in 1938. Its work-shy eponymous hero, adrift in London, realises that desire can never be satisfied and withdraws from life, in search of stupor. Murphy's lovestruck fiancée, Celia, tries with tragic pathos to draw him back, but her attempts are doomed to failure. In Dublin, Murphy's friends and familiars are simulacra of him, fragmented and incomplete. They come to London in search of him.

How It Is

How It Is, a landmark in 20th century literature, is one of the most challenging of Samuel Beckett's early novels. He published it first in French in 1961 and then in his own translation in 1964. He explained in a letter that it was the outpouring of a "'man' lying panting in the mud and dark murmuring his 'life' as he hears it obscurely uttered by a voice inside him.... The noise of his panting fills his ears and it is only when this abates that he can catch and murmur forth a fragment of what is being stated within...."

Waiting for Godot

There is now no doubt that not only is Waiting for Godot the outstanding play of the 20th century, but it is also Samuel Beckett's masterpiece. Yet it is both a popular text to be studied at school and an enigma. The scene is a country road. There is a solitary tree. It is evening. Two tramp-like figures, Vladimir and Estragon, exchange words. Pull off boots. Munch a root vegetable. Two other curious characters enter. And a boy. Time passes. It is all strange yet familiar.

Krapp's Last Tape, Not I, That Time, & A Piece of Monologue

These four works show Samuel Beckett at his most penetrating. Both
Krapp's Last Tape (1958) and
Not I (1972) are among the most striking pieces written for the theatre in the 20th century. An old man sits at a table, playing back old tapes made when he was younger, mixed glimpses of past feelings. In
Not I, we have just a mouth expressing memories and torment in a torrent of words.

Ulysses

Ulysses is regarded by many as the single most important novel of the 20th century. It tells the story of one day in Dublin, June 16th 1904, largely through the eyes of Stephen Dedalus (Joyce's alter ego from
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man) and Leopold Bloom, an advertising salesman. Both begin a normal day, and both set off on a journey around the streets of Dublin, which eventually brings them into contact with one another.

The Iliad

Perhaps the greatest poem of the Western world,
The Iliad tells the story of 50 critical days towards the end of the Trojan war. Achilles has quarrelled with Agamemnon and sulks in his tent, while Hector brings his Trojans to the brink of victory; but fate will have the last word.

The World as Will And Idea, Volume 1

Schopenhauer was just 30 when his magnum opus,
Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung, a work of considerable learning and innovation of thought, first appeared in 1818.

Much to his chagrin and puzzlement (so convinced was he of its merits), it didn't have an immediate effect on European philosophy, views and culture. It was only decades later that it was recognised as one of the major intellectual landmarks of the 19th century.

At the Existentialist Café: Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails

Paris, near the turn of 1933. Three young friends meet over apricot cocktails at the Bec-de-Gaz bar on the rue Montparnasse. They are Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir and their friend Raymond Aron, who opens their eyes to a radical new way of thinking. Pointing to his drink, he says, 'You can make philosophy out of this cocktail!'

Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for All and None

Thus Spoke Zarathustra is one of the most extraordinary - and important - texts in Western philosophy. It was written by Friedrich Nietzsche between 1883 and 1885. He cast it in the form of a novel in the hope that his urgent message of the 'death of God' and the rise of the superman (Ubermensch) would have greater emotional as well as intellectual impact.

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

This fictionalized portrait of Joyce's youth is one of the most vivid accounts of the growth from childhood to adulthood. Dublin at the turn of the century provides the backdrop as Stephen Dedalus moves from town and society, towards the irrevocable decision to leave. It was the decision made by Joyce himself which resulted in the mature novels of
Ulysses and
Finnegans Wake.

Swann's Way

Swann’s Way is the first of seven volumes in
Remembrance of Things Past. It sets the scene with the narrator’s memories being famously provoked by the taste of that little cake, the madeleine, accompanied by a cup of lime-flowered tea. It is an unmatched portrait of fin-de-siècle France.

Naked Lunch: The Restored Text

Naked Lunch is one of the most important novels of the 20th century, a book that redefined not just literature but American culture. An unnerving tale of a narcotics addict unmoored in New York, Tangiers, and, ultimately, a nightmarish wasteland known as Interzone.

The Concept of Anxiety: A Simple Psychologically Oriented Deliberation in View of the Dogmatic Problem of Hereditary Sin

This first new translation of Kierkegaard's masterwork in a generation brings an essential work of modern philosophy to vivid life. While the majority of Kierkegaard's work leading up to The Concept of Anxiety dealt with the intersection of faith and knowledge, here the renowned Danish philosopher turns to the perennial question of sin and guilt. First published in 1844, this concise treatise identified - long before Freud - anxiety as a deep-seated human state, one that embodies the endless struggle with our own spiritual identities.

The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined

We’ve all had the experience of reading about a bloody war or shocking crime and asking, “What is the world coming to?” But we seldom ask, “How bad was the world in the past?” In this startling new book, the best-selling cognitive scientist Steven Pinker shows that the world of the past was much worse. In fact, we may be living in the most peaceable era in our species’ existence.

Paradise Lost

In words remarkable for their richness of rhythm and imagery, Milton tells the story of man's creation, fall, and redemption, "to justify the ways of God to men". Here, unabridged, and told with exceptional sensitivity and power by Anton Lesser, is the plight of Adam and Eve, the ambition and vengefulness of Satan and his cohorts.

Publisher's Summary

The Unnamable is the third novel in Beckett's trilogy, three remarkable prose works in which men of increasingly debilitating physical circumstances act, ponder, consider, and rage against impermanence and the human condition. The Unnamable is without doubt the most uncompromising text and it is read here in startling fashion by Sean Barrett.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

What the Critics Say

"Beckett is one of the most positive writers alive. Behind all his mournful blasphemies against man there is real love. And he is genuine: every sentence is written as if it had been lived." (
The New York Times Book Review)

What made the experience of listening to The Unnamable the most enjoyable?

Before listening to this I would have said that Sean barrett is a very good narrator. After listening to this however, I believe he is the best. This is a very heavy going piece of literature, yet he reads this text with a huge range of emotions. One minute he seems to cry out in despair with the agony of his strange existance while the next injecting the story with a little light-hearted amusement, passing by resignation, anger and exhaustion along the way. Beckett's work is not easy to interpret, however I don't believe I have heard it better done than here.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Unnamable?

The last few lines of the text are spellbinding to listen too. It almost feels like the entire text builds up to just those last few lines. All I was able to do after hearing them was simply sit and gaze out of the window. I had no words for how I felt.

Which scene did you most enjoy?

isn't that almost the same question? well, my answer is as above, anyway. Given the nature of the text, it's impossible really to talk about it in terms of scenes or events.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It made me do both. I have never been so moved by an audiobook before. It really was an astounding listening experience. All three books in the Beckett trilogy were a revelation to me, but certain lines in this book simply left me stunned. It is terribly difficult to put it into words.

Any additional comments?

I almost feel that this book is much better to listen to rather than read. I don't think I would have stuck with it otherwise. Not only is it worth reading for Beckett's outlook on the human condition, but it's honestly a work of auditry art in its delivery. I would however not recommend reading it without having read the first two books in the Beckett trilogy to start with.

This book is a long and disjointed monologue of some (unnamable) being, trying to determine what it/he really is. He is sometimes waiting to die, sometimes waiting to be born, always struggling with facts, sensations and language itself in the search of himself. Definitely not for everybody, but extremely funny in its way, and well worth the effort in my opinion.

But the narration here is simply astounding. Sean Barrett brings this incredibly difficult, almost inaccessible work to life in a way I never imagined possible. The same also goes for his work on "Molloy" and "Malone Dies", but this book is truly the hardest of the three, and Mr. Barrett reads it perfectly.

16 of 16 people found this review helpful

Deskspud

30/11/10

Overall

"Amazing Trilogy"

These books were so full of mad sanity it can be difficult to stay "on the bycycle." Malloy was the easiest for me; he is so hysterically original. But they become more serious as they move along; the characters voices assuming a more bitter maturity. Beckett is a world class poet and I'm out of my depth without larger insights than my own to follow but I loved the adventure and will enjoy listening to them repeatedly for years to come.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Barry

Petaluma, CA, United States

19/12/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"The Unstory"

I regret not reading the first two books in the trilogy first (Molloy and Malone Dies). This book clearly pushes the limits of what can be said without reference to other people or things. Well, he does talk about other things but the effect is of being isolated outside of time and place; of being stuck without any external stimuli to respond to for all eternity. Hell. Probably. Unless it isn't. But there I go again. Absurdist seems like too frivolous a name for this genre, but I believe that is the usual classification. Whether the two prior books would have made this any more meaningful, they would at least have given a little context for this character. Read on its own, it is so unrelentingly bleak, it makes Waiting for Godot seem like a walk in the park. Back to the limits of what can be said without plot or character, Beckett is the master of this sort of thing. Just when you think there's nothing more to be said, and you're thinking you can't take any more of it, he manages to milk one more topic for his amorphous protagonist to rant about. But he knows when to stop. I can't say I was sorry when it was over, but I can't say I didn't appreciate this strange intellectual exercise either. I think there is a certain appropriateness in listening to this as opposed to reading it on paper. The protagonist is stuck listening to his own thoughts in real time. A similar phenomenon afflicts the brave listener willing to take on this audiobook. Good luck.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Katie Hazes

30/04/15

Overall

Performance

Story

"Wonderful"

The narration is impeccable. Each clause considered and rendered brilliantly. Reverential, at the very least, perhaps even done with love.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

world music lover

chicago

17/02/18

Overall

Performance

Story

"Profound story, beautiful Irish voice"

Third in trilogy Molloy, Malone Dies, and The Unnamable. Listen to all three in a row. Beckett's finest writing. Sean Barrett's performance is the best I've experienced on audible. Perfect reading of Beckett. What could be better?

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Mama Hezy

08/12/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"I can't, I must"

The dialogue, be it inner or among three minds, it's captivating, best work, great narration

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

J. Downey

Moriya, Japan

28/12/12

Overall

Performance

Story

"Amazing experiment--in print"

Would you try another book from Samuel Beckett and/or Sean Barrett?

Absolutely. I recommend Malloy in particular.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

I love Beckett and literary experiments in general, but this book was just too hard to follow audibly. The nature of the story is that nothing's happening, so it's easy to zone out and feel like you're wasting your time by listening to it. The performance was as good as can be expected, but this is a book that doesn't easily lend itself to another medium.

1 of 2 people found this review helpful

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